MEL GIBSON VIDEO
William Wallace's speech (played by Mel Gibson) to the Scottish troops who must fight the English army to win their freedom.
To summarise, I quote:
Fight and you may die! Run and you will live, at least for a while.
Dying in a bed many years from now, are you sure you will not dream of trading all the days you will have lived from today onwards for the chance, just one more chance,
to come back here to the battlefield and shout to our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!
As a boy, I loved Braveheart (Cuore impavido in Italian, released in 1995), based on the true story of the leader William Wallace; watching it again as an adult, I cannot help appreciating the power of the words in his speech to the army before the battle.
It is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring speeches ever heard in a cinema.
The Scots were outnumbered by the English, divided by internal clan struggles and frightened of the battle, but their leader manages to shift their focus and attention to the reason why.
These words throw us forcefully into the here and now (into mindfulness), into acting instead of procrastinating!
Sadly, the time that has passed will never return!
I always tell myself: better to act and make mistakes than regret not doing something. It is not easy, and the list of things I have not done keeps growing, but reminding myself of this helps keep it from getting longer.